I figure you competition shooters are a pretty hardcore crowd and best qualified to answer my question. I tried something new today. instead of the usuall 3-5 dozen arrow practice, I placed five arrows in my quiver and took five shots from 25 yards. My thought process is this...when hunting I can hope to take one shot. Practicing with fewer arrows will: 1) better represent shooting in the field 2) eliminate "getting tired" as an excuse for poor shots/fliers 3) force me to really slow down the whole process and focus 4) motivate me to shoot my best and concentrate on my form But of course the whole argument regarding muscle memory goes out the window with this approach. So you guys who shoot perfect scores...what do you think of my theory?
With target archery, consistency is what wins tournaments. It isn't so much much how many arrows you shoot, it is how many quality shots you make. A quality shot is hitting all the elements of your shot routine and executing a clean shot. For some target courses, there is a timed element, for field archery, not. Shot routines will vary depending on time constraints, but it still means hitting your shot routine marks each and every time. In terms of increasing your physical stamina, I'm not sure I'd say shooting to fatigue is the most effective method. A variety of cross training - both aerobic and anaerobic exercise would be far more effective. Keep anaerobic exercises symmetrical - don't favor either your bow or release side. You need not spend money of archery specific training aids. Most of what is necessary can be accomplished with free weights or even water jugs. Hoyt has some excellent archery work outs, arguably weighted toward bow hunters, but would benefit anyone. http://www.hoyt.com/videos/index.php?c=Hoyt%20Fitness
